Lara Prendergast is executive editor of The Spectator. She hosts two Spectator podcasts, The Edition and Table Talk, and edits The Spectator’s food and drink coverage.
The mood in California was apologetic. Most people we met seemed embarrassed that their country’s dirty laundry was being aired quite so publicly. Hillary or the Donald? It will have to be Hillary, they sighed. Few seemed stirred by the prospect, but it was hard to avoid the subject. In Half Moon Bay in San Mateo
A study came out last week that should have caused great alarm. For 13 years, researchers at the University of Copenhagen studied more than a million women between the ages of 15 and 34 who were taking a type of drug — one that is popular in all developed countries. Taking this drug, the researchers found, correlated
Nigel Farage has just delivered his speech at Ukip conference, in which he declared that he had put ‘absolutely all of me’ into Britain leaving the EU. ‘I literally couldn’t have worked any harder, or couldn’t have been more determined – it’s been my life’s work to get to this point. I want my country back, but now
When the model and actress Anastasia Lin was crowned Miss World Canada last year, a fairly easy and lucrative career lay in front of her: magazine shoots, sponsorship opportunities and being paid to turn up to parties. She instead decided to use her position to confront the Chinese Communist party and call out its human
The Spectator podcast: Listen to Isabel Hardman, Lara Prendergast, Charlotte Jee, Editor of Techworld, and Professor Martin Conway, head of psychology at City University discuss the memory gap. Ask me what I had for lunch yesterday and I couldn’t tell you. Names disappear as swiftly as smoke. Birthdays, capital cities, phone numbers — the types of facts
Following a hostage situation at a church in northern France, two armed men and one hostage have been killed. The slain hostage was Rev. Jacques Hamel, an elderly priest, and Le Figaro reports that the hostage takers ‘slit’ his throat while he was giving mass. The other hostages included two nuns and two worshippers. The French president, François
Following Andrea Leadsom’s announcement that she is bowing out of the leadership race, Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee, has confirmed that Theresa May is now the only remaining candidate. While he refused to confirm that she was now the country’s Prime Minister, he ruled out re-opening the contest, which means it is almost certain
The long-awaited Chilcot report has finally been published today. It comes during a very tumultuous time in British politics – and while its publication was always going to be fractious, it remains to be seen how the Tories – and more interestingly, Labour, use it to their advantage. The 12-volume report, which is 2.6 million words long and can
Since Brexit became a reality early on Friday morning, my Facebook feed has been filled with mournful posts written by friends who voted Remain. Those who voted Leave seem to be staying quiet. This is understandable. Most of my friends are in their twenties. They tend to be educated and globalist in their outlook. They have enjoyed
It is, at times, unclear that George Osborne is aware that the under-30s are voting in this EU referendum. When he talks about house prices plummeting post-Brexit, he talks as if this will strike fear into everyone’s hearts. For older people seeking to downsize, this might be true – but for almost everyone else, it’s
A year or so ago, I inherited a cardboard box filled with plants. It was an offshoot from an enormous collection that belonged to a young botanist from Stockwell. He was about to be turfed out of the derelict building he lived in and hundreds of plants were being spread across London. I offered to
Labour’s Lisa Nandy has just been on the Daily Politics, where she suggested that Naz Shah should be suspended from the party. When asked about Bradford West MP Naz Shah’s comments about Israel, Nandy told Jo Coburn that the Labour party should ‘suspend anybody who makes anti-Semitic comments in line with our policy and investigate
After months of waiting, the Electoral Commission has announced that Vote Leave has been given the official designation for the EU referendum. This means that MPs including Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and Frank Field will now become the official faces of the Leave campaign, while Nigel Farage and Ukip donor Arron Banks, who were behind
‘Amid the cobbled passageways and tumbling tenements of the Italian city of Perugia, it’s possible to daydream you are in the middle ages. You are surrounded by medieval art and architecture. And then you think: hold on, what happened to the Renaissance?’ So begins Paul Mason’s article for the Guardian on Monday about the Panama Papers, in which
I’m technically 3/4 Kiwi and 1/4 British, although having lived in the UK most of my life, it doesn’t often feel this way. But when it comes to rugby, I support the All Blacks, and when I go walking in the mud, I wear gumboots, not wellingtons. So I’ve taken a vague interest in the fact that New
At least 14 dead after two explosions by ‘suicide bombers’ at American Airlines check-in desk at Brussels airport. 81 injured. Firemen are said to have found a third unexploded device. Separate explosion at Maelbeek metro station in Brussels city centre, 500 metres from an EU institution. At least 20 dead and 55 injured. Islamic State have claimed responsibility for
Baby George was born into a happy family. His mother and father love him dearly. He lives in a cottage in a pretty village, with a six-year-old sister who adores him, and his grandmother lives nearby. His parents both have good jobs and his nursery is filled with toys. By most measures, George has had
Has a new art installation opened up at the Capitoline museum? One might be forgiven for thinking so: nude sculptures were recently encased in white wooden boxes so that only their heads could be seen. So modern! So fresh! So radical! Except there was nothing radical about it. Instead, Italian authorities took the decision to cover
The young nannies arriving for their morning lectures at Norland College in Bath make quite a sight. Although the road is empty, they bank up along the pavement waiting for the lights to change. They are in their winter uniform of brown hat and gloves, hair in a neat bun; some push old-fashioned Silver Cross
Regardless of the background of the men who carried out the attacks in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, it is a pretty horrific story. A series of sexual attacks took place in the city centre by a group of around 1,000 men. More than 150 women have filed criminal complaints, three-quarters of them for sexual assault.
